Contemporary Earth Mama

we're back from Ely

The girls and I are back from spending a week with my parents at their cabin in Ely.  We hiked, caught frogs, swam, played in waterfalls, fished, read, and enjoyed being together ( until those moments snuck up on us where we weren't so much enjoying the time together and had to enjoy a bit of time apart, of course).

We've got big adventures up our sleeves for next summer...hmm, what about a whole month instead of one week?  A girl's gotta dream....

 
 
 
 
 
 

puddlestomping and other recent travels

Travels this week have taken me most recently down the street with my girls, water boots on our feet, rain gear on our limbs, to stomp through every puddle we could find.  To be outside in the rain is one of my favorite things to do...especially on a Saturday, when the rest of the day is spent curled up on our bed with a pile of books and reading requests, "No, Sun-beep (Fannie's new name for Sunny), not dat one, dis one!"

Last week I spent a few days in Sioux Falls preparing for the Sioux Falls Baby Expo, proudly sponsored by My Healthy Beginning.  It's been years since I've driven through southwestern Minnesota, and oh, the farm country was calling my name.  Beautiful rolling hills, rivers and chocolate milk cows kept my mind occupied ( as well as three hours of phone calls) during the drive.  I have to share with you, though, my Favorite Place of the Week...Falls Park in the middle of Sioux Falls.  It's this beautiful oasis in the middle of the city where the Big Sioux River cuts through town spraying its mist and winding through rocky outcroppings. Took a time out from long days to sit for a few minutes under the warm sun dipping my toes in the water, and then again to watch that sun go down, and the mallards come out for their evening flight.

I love stumbling across such treasures...where was the last treasure you came across?

i just have to say...WOW.

So this post is about serendipity and universal reciprocity and all the beautiful blessings life is giving me at this time.  Here's a little story about the fun of it all.

It's Saturday ( the 23rd of January to be exact), and I'm in Denver at a kids expo scouting out new contacts. 

 I fall in love with Wii Fit Plus, which I would never have imagined in a million years because it's related to Nintendo and I fell out of love with that like twenty years ago. 

I fall in love with Wii Fit Plus while trying it out at this event. 

There is a very friendly woman, a personal trainer, helping me try out the Wii Fit Plus. 

I fall deeper in love with this Nintendo game-but-not-a-game-thing with every minute going by and wonder ( outside of the fact that I watch about 47 minutes per week of television at all) why I haven't fallen in love with this before. 

It sort of accidentally slips that we're producing this event for families who want to implement healthier and more natural living, and that I want the Wii Fit Plus at the event because a large part of our mission is to encourage families to move together.  This nice gal asks where I'm from, I say Minneapolis, and of course she just moved to Denver from Minneapolis six months ago. 

Now that is sort of funny, right?  I go on to say that I publish this little magazine that supports naturally and healthfully raising families and that the event we're producing was created from bringing live the content from our pages.  And she says, ( I kid you not)...( and quite nonchalantly)..."Oh, are you talking about My Healthy Beginning?"

Excuse me a sec while I pull myself up from the floor and fix my hair.

Okay, I'm standing.

Now, that's really funny and that's got to mean something.

Turns out she's a yoga instructor who had picked up the magazine a handful of times while living in Minneapolis.

She knew MHB.  Honestly, do you know what that feels like?  She knew MHB.

Mission accomplished.

brought to you by Denver, CO

I'm back from this weekends venture west...oh, the familiar feeling of the mountains in the distance, the sun being a little closer to my face and the clean air was as if I had been called home.  I would take Colorado any day, even if only for a day.

What's just as exciting are the great resources I brought back home with me.  I'll share a list here of some cool Denver based companies.

The Wildlife Experience museum

Living Green in Style~Solne

Brain Balance Achievement Centers, where every kid connects with success

Togetherbe

The Giggling Green Bean

Stroller Fit

Beautiful Beginnings

Complete Wellness Chiropractic  -Laser Allergy Relief

Lifesound Cards...capturing the miracle of your baby's heartbeat

Though these are all great, I have to share with you my absolute favorite find of the weekend.  Seriously, I saw this product in Mothering last month and instantly wanted it.  Then, I meet Melissa Radcliffe, owner of Togetherbe and designer behind Peekaru.  Not only was she quick to walk a mama through various holds in various carriers, she also had the Peekaru right there making me want to jump on a plane and get home to make another baby.  I love carrying babies...they are soft and warm which makes me soft and warm.  I always have a fleece or extra layer on at home and wearing my babies meant I usually didn't need the extra layer.  If I had had the Peekaru, then wearing them outdoors in the winter would have been easier.  It's kind of one of these Why Didn't I Think of That moments?  The Peekaru could very well be my number one favorite thing of 2010 folks.

Ten reasons to love Ely

1-no electricity/running water ( at Nana and Papa's cabin)

2-snow

3-Piragis

4-Wintergreen

5-dreams of a dogsledding trip

6-snowshoeing

7-vast expanse of waterways and trail systems

8-first weekend away with no children in four (I repeat, FOUR) years

9-planting myself in front of the woodstove

10-great photo opps ( considering the amateur hand behind the camera and a camera not meant for great photo opps)

Who doesn't love an outhouse?

Guess where I am...tee-hee.

The road back to the cabin...

 
Hangin' with the locals...

 
Late night Uno marathon

The hunter/gatherer/cute guy I'm married to

and a little much needed time with Our Firstborn ...

Tell me, how would you spend a weekend away from the wee ones?  

***camping***

I see these didn't load yesterday.  This could have something to do with my lack of tech savvy-ness ( or patience, one of the two).

 

 

 

 

 

 

camping

This weekend, despite the forecast of drippy and soggy weather, had us heading toward Wisconsin and Taylors Falls for some tenting, hiking and hanging out with the girls.  Upon arrival , the rain began to fall, turned to severee  thunderstorms All Night Long and well into the morning, rendered the idea of driving into town for breakfast one we were all in favor of.

A belly full of eggs and hashbrowns needs to move, so off to Interstate State Park we went for a couple hours of hiking.  At the halfway point we stopped to dip our toes and nibble on a snack before heading back to the car.  The afternoon had cleared up enough for water play at Wild Mountain.  It's just what we all needed to cool off from the 90 degree heat.

Dinner over a fire with the accompanying smores and Fannie to sleep in less than an hour ( what this means is we nursed, read and cocooned her in a cool sheet, and I opened my new copy of Real Food for Mother and Baby by Nina Planck while she played with her baby and looked at books next to me until she fell asleep).  I then crept out for s'more by the fire, only to pull her out of a beautiful and exhausted slumber 45 minutes later for a tornado warning.  Super fun. (Note:  sarcasm)

We all survived a downpour of rain and not much else then frazzled nerves.  As it turns out, it was a better option to be camping as a tornado touched down in our little town at home.

A drippy, soggy weekend, though a great time to bond and grow together as a family.

What will you do to celebrate summer before its departure?